Elon Musk Threatens to Leak Damaging Evidence Against Top Brazilian Judge
Elon Musk has declared that he possesses compelling evidence to support his belief that one of Brazil’s prominent judges has betrayed the country’s citizens. The showdown arises amid a larger conflict over social media censorship in Latin America’s largest economy.
Musk, the owner of X, has become a central figure in the political struggle between former President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters and the Lula da Silva government in Brasilia, which Bolsonaro allegedly sought to destabilize.
Accusations against Bolsonaro and Storming of Brasilia
Bolsonaro has been accused of plotting to overturn his election defeat in November 2022, including the planned arrest of Judge Alexandre de Moraes. Following these allegations, Bolsonaro’s supporters staged a failed uprising in Brasilia, mirroring the events of the January 6 riot in the United States.
Recently released testimonies from senior military commanders indicate Bolsonaro’s involvement in a coup attempt. Amidst this ongoing conflict, De Moraes, in his capacity as the president of the Superior Electoral Court and a Supreme Court justice, has sought to suppress online claims propagated by Bolsonaro’s supporters, proclaiming that the October 2022 election was unfairly snatched from him.
The Clash between Musk and De Moraes
Following Musk’s refusal to comply with De Moraes’s order to block certain accounts on X, De Moraes has initiated an inquiry into the social media giant. This intensified the dispute that originated with the leakage of documents by journalist Michael Shellenberger suggesting De Moraes pushed Twitter’s content moderation policies to suppress Bolsonaro’s supporters.
Musk has openly referred to De Moraes as “Brazil’s Darth Vader.” Expressing his stance, Musk declared that X would publish the evidence demanded by De Moraes and provide explicit details showcasing how these requests violate Brazilian law. Moreover, Musk voiced his opinion that De Moraes has repeatedly betrayed both the Brazilian constitution and its people, demanding his resignation or impeachment.
Musk’s Stance on Principles and Support for Free Speech
Musk’s refusal to comply with De Moraes’s demands in Brazil aligns with his prior response to government requests. Last year, Musk faced criticism for censoring content in response to the Turkish government’s demands surrounding an election. Nevertheless, Musk, in his recent proclamations, asserts that principles hold greater importance than profit.
Musk has often portrayed himself as a guardian against the decay of western civilization, expressing concerns about revised hiring practices impacting lives, declining birth rates, and the effects of hormonal birth control on women’s mental health. He has also propagated fears of a deep socialist state established through Democrats granting illegal immigrants the right to vote.
Presented as a champion of free speech, Musk engaged online with a figurehead of Germany’s extreme right, baited into doing so by the individual’s claim of suppressed free speech by the government. Nevertheless, Musk’s approach to free speech has drawn criticism for its selective application, particularly the suspension of X members for posting about the decolonization of Palestine while choosing not to suspend users aligning more closely with his values.
Last month, a judge ruled against Musk’s lawsuit on the grounds that it was evidently intended to punish the Center for Countering Digital Hate for criticizing X’s management, thereby dissuading others from doing the same in the future. Trevor Timm, the executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, blasted Musk as “the world’s biggest hypocrite on free speech” for his inconsistent treatment of the term.
